City and Colour, Dan Mangan, Drake, Feist, Hedley and Nickelback lead with four nominations each

– William Shatner to host The 2012 JUNO Awards –
– Hedley and Nickelback added to the roster of performers –

Tickets to The 2012 JUNO Awards Broadcast on CTV go on sale Friday, February 10 at 10am

Toronto, ON (February 7, 2012) — The nominees for the 2012 JUNO Awards were announced by The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) at a press conference in Toronto this morning, as top Canadian artists now gear up for JUNO Week, March 26-April 1 in Ottawa. It was also revealed that Canadian icon William Shatner will host The 2012 JUNO Awards Broadcast, airing live on CTV the evening of Sunday, April 1 from Scotiabank Place.

2012 JUNO Award nominees Hedley and Nickelback were added to the lineup of performers for the broadcast, bringing the total number of performers announced so far to six. They will join 2012 Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees Blue Rodeo and 2012 JUNO Award nominees City and Colour, deadmau5 and Feist onstage at this year’s show. More performers will be announced in the coming weeks!

Tickets to the 2012 JUNO Awards go on sale this Friday, February 10 at 10:00 a.m. (EST), and are priced at $213.57, $145.77, $111.87 and $62.15 (plus service fees). They are available for purchase at the Scotiabank Place Box Office, The Sens Store locations at Carlingwood Mall and Place D’Orleans, Ottawa Sports Experts, and Les Galeries de Hull; by phoning (613) 599-FANS (3267) or (toll free) at 877-788-FANS (3267); and online at www.capitaltickets.ca.

To view a complete list of 2012 JUNO Award nominees, as well as their bios and hometown information, go to www.junoawards.ca.

Landing their first-ever JUNO Award nominations in the New Group of the Year category (sponsored by FACTOR and Radio Starmaker Fund) are up-and-coming groups Braids, Hey Rosetta!, Mother Mother, The Rural Alberta Advantage and The Sheepdogs.

2011 JUNO Awards host Drake also received four nominations for JUNO Fan Choice, Album of the Year (sponsored by Music Canada), Artist of the Year and Rap Recording of the Year.

City and Colour received four nominations for JUNO Fan Choice, Artist of the Year, Single of the Year and Songwriter of the Year (sponsored by SiriusXM Canada). Hedley also received four nominations for JUNO Fan Choice, Group of the Year, Single of the Year and Pop Album of the Year. Nickelback, also locked in four nominations for JUNO Fan Choice, Group of the Year, Single of the Year and Album of the Year (sponsored by Music Canada).

Dan Mangan is a new face in the top-contender list. In addition to his nomination for New Artist of the Year (sponsored by FACTOR and Radio Starmaker Fund), he also received nods for Songwriter of the Year (sponsored by SiriusXM Canada), Alternative Album of the Year (sponsored by Long & McQuade) and Video of the Year (sponsored by MuchFACT, exclusively funded by Bell Media).

Joining Dan Mangan in the New Artist of the Year category (sponsored by FACTOR and Radio Starmaker Fund) are breakout musicians Alyssa Reid, Diamond Rings, JRDN and Lindi Ortega. They are among a total of 99 first-time JUNO Award nominees this year.

2012 JUNO Award performer Feist also received a total of four nominations. In addition to Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year (sponsored by SiriusXM Canada) and Adult Alternative Album of the Year, her DVD Feist: Look at What the Light Did Now was nominated for Music DVD of the Year. The art directors of her album Metals also received a 2012 JUNO Award nomination for Recording Package of the Year.

Receiving three nominations each are multiple JUNO Award winners Avril Lavigne [JUNO Fan Choice; Album of the Year (sponsored by Music Canada); Pop Album of the Year]; deadmau5 [JUNO Fan Choice; Artist of the Year; Dance Recording of the Year]; and Michael Bublé [JUNO Fan Choice; Album of the Year (sponsored by Music Canada); Artist of the Year].

This year also marked the addition of a new category for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year, making a total of 41 categories up for grabs. Artists who will make history as the first-ever Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year nominees are Anvil (JUGGERNAUT OF JUSTICE), Cauldron (BURNING FORTUNE), Devin Townsend Project (DECONSTRUCTION), Fuck the Facts (DIE MISERABLE) and KEN mode (VENERABLE).

Blue Rodeo frontman Jim Cuddy is nominated for two JUNO Awards for Songwriter of the Year (sponsored by SiriusXM Canada) and Adult Alternative Album of the Year for his solo album SKYSCRAPER SOUL. Cuddy will perform with Blue Rodeo at The 2012 JUNO Awards Broadcast on April 1, and the band will also be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame that night.